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I was admitted R1 to Duke but also applied to some schools R2 that I would attend if I get in.

I assume Duke wouldn't let me defer my $1500 deposit until R2, right? I just have to pay the deposit and lose that $ if I attend elsewhere?

Thanks!

Feel free to ask... but I'm pretty sure they wouldnt be happy to hear "Hey, I'd pay the deposit, BUT, I applied to some better schools and would rather go there.... SO, if those dont work out, I'll pay my deposit later."

Done with my interview today. It was with an Ad Com member and lasted for exactly an hour. He was friendly and did not try cornering me but he did ask me to explain every transition. There was strong emphasis on my extra-curricular activities during undergrad.

The questions included: 1) Why MBA? Why now? 2) Why Duke? 3) How will your friends describe you? 4) How will your team mates describe you? 5) One thing you fear about being a Duke student 6) Post MBA plans 7) One thing u loved about Duke 8) What do you do for fun? 8) 3 minute elevator pitch for the Dean of Admissions9) Do you have any questions for me

I recommend all applicants to go through their profile VERY well before interviewing with the adcom. He covered a lot of ground through his questions. He was spontaneous. I was comfortable and did not feel any kind of cross questioning.

Done with my interview today. It was with an Ad Com member and lasted for exactly an hour. He was friendly and did not try cornering me but he did ask me to explain every transition. There was strong emphasis on my extra-curricular activities during undergrad.

The questions included: 1) Why MBA? Why now? 2) Why Duke? 3) How will your friends describe you? 4) How will your team mates describe you? 5) One thing you fear about being a Duke student 6) Post MBA plans 7) One thing u loved about Duke 8) What do you do for fun? 8) 3 minute elevator pitch for the Dean of Admissions9) Do you have any questions for me

I recommend all applicants to go through their profile VERY well before interviewing with the adcom. He covered a lot of ground through his questions. He was spontaneous. I was comfortable and did not feel any kind of cross questioning.

The questions included: 5) One thing you fear about being a Duke student 8) 3 minute elevator pitch for the Dean of Admissions

Sounds like a pretty good interview, hope you rocked it. Many of the questions are re-words of the 'standard grouping'... short and longer term goals, why mba, why our school, etc.5 is an interesting one and 8 is a great question, I haven't had that elsewhere and its a great way to bullet point your strengths and put a bow on your application.

Done with my interview today. It was with an Ad Com member and lasted for exactly an hour. He was friendly and did not try cornering me but he did ask me to explain every transition. There was strong emphasis on my extra-curricular activities during undergrad.

The questions included: 1) Why MBA? Why now? 2) Why Duke? 3) How will your friends describe you? 4) How will your team mates describe you? 5) One thing you fear about being a Duke student 6) Post MBA plans 7) One thing u loved about Duke 8) What do you do for fun? 8) 3 minute elevator pitch for the Dean of Admissions9) Do you have any questions for me

I recommend all applicants to go through their profile VERY well before interviewing with the adcom. He covered a lot of ground through his questions. He was spontaneous. I was comfortable and did not feel any kind of cross questioning.

Hope my experience helps u guys

interesting! these are completely different questions from what i had when i interviewed with a 2nd yr student back in November. i would have drawn a blank at #5 - sounds like you rocked it though.

When answering "Why now" question can you guys talk about the personal reasons such as wanting to finish MBA before we start having kids? or don't want to be 30+ years old when starting a demanding job such as consulting/banking. Not sure, if its a good enough reason for doing the MBA now, as opposed to next year. _________________

I don't follow college basketball at all. What are the chances that I would get asked a question (casually) about whether I follow Duke basketball or what I thought of last week's game during my interview? I really don't want to come across as being not interested in this huge part of Duke's culture (because I would like to be if I am a student there), but at the same time I don't want to feign enthusiasm for something I know very little about. How much do you think students/alumni/adcom care about this aspect of a candidate's interests in evaluating whether or not he/she is a good fit?

Last edited by generalsouth on 12 Feb 2013, 11:43, edited 2 times in total.

I don't follow college basketball at all. What are the chances that I would get asked a question (casually) about whether I follow Duke basketball or what I thought of last week's game during my interview? I really don't want to come across as being not interested in this huge part of Duke's culture (because I would like to be if I am a student there), but at the same time I don't want to feign enthusiasm for something I know very little about. How much do you think students/alumni/adcom care about this aspect of a candidate's interests?

You won't get asked about it...and IMO, if you use it as a reason for "why duke" it's a pretty weak answer. Just know that it is a part of student life, but how involved students are in it varies.

When answering "Why now" question can you guys talk about the personal reasons such as wanting to finish MBA before we start having kids? or don't want to be 30+ years old when starting a demanding job such as consulting/banking. Not sure, if its a good enough reason for doing the MBA now, as opposed to next year.

While I think these are completely valid/ acceptable reasons for yNow, IMO adcom will want a professional reason to be at the forefront of your yNow. With that being said, to give a professional reason on top of a completely unrelated personal one (e.g., having kids), may result in a less concise answer than preferable. If possible I would stick to a strictly professional reason, which I am sure you have. Good luck!

I don't follow college basketball at all. What are the chances that I would get asked a question (casually) about whether I follow Duke basketball or what I thought of last week's game during my interview? I really don't want to come across as being not interested in this huge part of Duke's culture (because I would like to be if I am a student there), but at the same time I don't want to feign enthusiasm for something I know very little about. How much do you think students/alumni/adcom care about this aspect of a candidate's interests in evaluating whether or not he/she is a good fit?

I haven't read any interview report so far in which the interviewee was asked a sports related question. I think if someone does bring up the sports topic, it would defininetly be the applicant himself. I wouldn't worry too much about it. _________________

I don't follow college basketball at all. What are the chances that I would get asked a question (casually) about whether I follow Duke basketball or what I thought of last week's game during my interview? I really don't want to come across as being not interested in this huge part of Duke's culture (because I would like to be if I am a student there), but at the same time I don't want to feign enthusiasm for something I know very little about. How much do you think students/alumni/adcom care about this aspect of a candidate's interests in evaluating whether or not he/she is a good fit?

I haven't read any interview report so far in which the interviewee was asked a sports related question. I think if someone does bring up the sports topic, it would defininetly be the applicant himself. I wouldn't worry too much about it.

On a side note, great answer for what scares you most about being a Duke student... "Although I'm excited about the enthusiastic sports culture at Duke, I know absolutely nothing about college basketball. I'm somewhat worried I'd have a bit of a learning curve getting up to speed for the daily sports small talk."

I don't follow college basketball at all. What are the chances that I would get asked a question (casually) about whether I follow Duke basketball or what I thought of last week's game during my interview? I really don't want to come across as being not interested in this huge part of Duke's culture (because I would like to be if I am a student there), but at the same time I don't want to feign enthusiasm for something I know very little about. How much do you think students/alumni/adcom care about this aspect of a candidate's interests in evaluating whether or not he/she is a good fit?

I haven't read any interview report so far in which the interviewee was asked a sports related question. I think if someone does bring up the sports topic, it would defininetly be the applicant himself. I wouldn't worry too much about it.

On a side note, great answer for what scares you most about being a Duke student... "Although I'm excited about the enthusiastic sports culture at Duke, I know absolutely nothing about college basketball. I'm somewhat worried I'd have a bit of a learning curve getting up to speed for the daily sports small talk."

I don't follow college basketball at all. What are the chances that I would get asked a question (casually) about whether I follow Duke basketball or what I thought of last week's game during my interview? I really don't want to come across as being not interested in this huge part of Duke's culture (because I would like to be if I am a student there), but at the same time I don't want to feign enthusiasm for something I know very little about. How much do you think students/alumni/adcom care about this aspect of a candidate's interests in evaluating whether or not he/she is a good fit?

I haven't read any interview report so far in which the interviewee was asked a sports related question. I think if someone does bring up the sports topic, it would defininetly be the applicant himself. I wouldn't worry too much about it.

On a side note, great answer for what scares you most about being a Duke student... "Although I'm excited about the enthusiastic sports culture at Duke, I know absolutely nothing about college basketball. I'm somewhat worried I'd have a bit of a learning curve getting up to speed for the daily sports small talk."

What do you guys think of using excessive amount of humor during b-school interviews? All my life I have used humor quite extensively during job interviews and that never hurted me. I feel like since b-schools interviews are more casual than job interviews, being funny won't hurt.

During my Tuck interview, my interviewer laughed at pretty much each of my responses (even when I wasn't trying to be funny). He did make a positive comment on my personality, but not sure if its a good thing or not. _________________